East Timor
East Timor (/ˈtiːmɔːr/ (listen)
), also known as Timor-Leste (/tiˈmɔːrˈlɛʃteɪ/ ; Portuguese pronunciation: [ti'moɾ 'lɛʃ.tɨ]; Tetum: Timór Lorosa'e[10]), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste[11] (Portuguese: República Democrática de Timor-Leste,[12] Tetum: Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste[10]),[13] is an island country in Southeast Asia.[14] It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island surrounded by Indonesian West Timor. Australia is the country's southern neighbour, separated by the Timor Sea. The country's size is 15,007 square kilometres (5,794 sq mi).[5] Diliis its capital.
East Timor was colonised by Portugal in the sixteenth century and was known as Portuguese Timor until 28 November 1975, when the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) declared the territory's independence. Nine days later, it was invaded and occupied by the Indonesian military; it was declared Indonesia's 27th province the following year. The Indonesian occupation of East Timor was characterised by a violent, decades-long conflict between separatist groups (especially Fretilin) and the Indonesian military.
In 1999, following the United Nations-sponsored act of self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory. As Timor-Leste, it became the first new sovereign state of the twenty-first century on 20 May 2002 and joined the United Nations[15] and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.[16] In 2011, East Timor announced its intention to become the eleventh member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).[17] East Timor and the Philippines are the only two predominantly Catholic nations in Southeast Asia.[18]
"Timor" is derived from timur, the word for "east" in Malay, which became recorded as Timor in Portuguese, thus resulting in the tautological toponym meaning "East East"; in Indonesian, Timor Timur. In Portuguese, the country is called Timor-Leste (Leste being the word for "east"); in Tetum Timór Lorosa'e (Lorosa'e being the word for "east" (literally "rising sun")).[citation needed]
The official names under the Constitution are Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste in English,[19] República Democrática de Timor-Leste in Portuguese,[12] and Repúblika Demokrátika Timór-Leste in Tetum.[13]The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) official short form in English and all other languages is Timor-Leste (codes: TLS & TL), which has been adopted by the United Nations,[20] the European Union,[21] and the national standards organisations of France (AFNOR), the United States (ANSI),[22] United Kingdom (BSI), Germany (DIN), and Sweden (SIS), all diplomatic missions to the country by protocol and the CIA World Factbook.[23]
Cultural remains at Jerimalai on the eastern tip of East Timor have been dated to 42,000 years ago, making that location one of the oldest known sites of modern human activity in Maritime Southeast Asia.[24] Descendants of at least three waves of migration are believed still to live in East Timor. The first is described by anthropologists as people of the Veddo-Australoid type. Around 3000 BC, a second migration brought Melanesians. The earlier Veddo-Australoid peoples withdrew at this time to the mountainous interior. Finally, proto-Malays arrived from south China and north Indochina.[25] Hakka traders are among those descended from this final group.[26]